Turban is an English word used to refer to several sorts of headwear. Turbans are a popular form of headgear worn in the Middle East, North Africa and Southwest Asia. A commonly used synonym is a Pagri, the Indian word for turban. In the West, Sikhs, of Indian descent, who wear Pagri are sometimes mistaken for Muslims or Arabs.

Styles

Contemporary turbans come in many shapes, sizes, and colours.

Middle Eastern, Central Asian, South Asian, and Sikh turban wearers usually wind it anew for each wearing, using long strips of cloth. The cloth is usually five meters or less. However, some elaborate South Asian turbans may be permanently formed and sewn to a foundation. Turbans can be very large or quite modest dependent upon region, culture, and religion.

Traditionally, "turban" has been the name of a type of headwear worn by women in Western countries. The wear of such turbans by women in Western societies is less common than it was earlier in the 20th century. They are usually sewn to a foundation, so that they can be donned or removed easily.

Women in many parts of Africa and the West Indies often cover their heads with intricately tied scarves which may be called scarves, head wraps, or turbans.

Men of the Tuareg, Berber, Songhai, Wodaabe, Fulani, and Hausa peoples of North and West Africa wear turbans, often veiling the face to block dust.

People of Kenya tie a distinct style, sometimes called "valeti style". The cloth they tie it with is sometimes starched and the finishing normally includes a sharp point. This style is most commonly tied in the UK and in Kenya.

Kurdish turbans

Kurdish people wear a turban which they call a Jamadani. The Jamadani is worn in many different ways across Kurdistan depending on the style of the locality e.g. the Barzani Kurds are a tribe which wear the turban in a colour (red and white) and style which is typical of their clan. Mostly Kurdish turban consists of a length of striped cloth known as kolāḡī wound around a conical hat; the tassels that border the kolāḡī are allowed to hang down over the face.

Afghan turbans

Afghan men wear a variety of turbans, known as ''Lungee''. Lungee is worn in Afghanistan and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, especially in the tribal areas. The lungee is usually worn in tribal meetings, but a majority of Pashtuns prefer to wear it in everyday life too.

Indian turbans

In northern India the turban is referred to as a ''pagri'', meaning the headdress that is worn by men and needs to be manually tied. There are several styles, specific to the wearer's region or religion, and they vary in shape, size and colour. The pagri is a symbol of honour and respect everywhere it is worn; it is a common practice to honour important guests by offering them one to wear. Colours are often chosen to suit the occasion or circumstance: for example saffron, associated with valour, is worn during rallies; white, associated with peace, is worn by elders; and pink, associated with spring, is worn during that season or for marriage ceremonies.

During the British period the Muslim elites of South Asia, especially in western Punjab, used to wear a long pagri which was also a symbol of nobility, honour and respect. In the Muslim majority regions of Punjab and Sindh members of the land aristocracy always wore elaborate turbans known as the ''pagri''. It was a part of the full formal dress that included the ''sherwani''.

The Sikh turban, known as the ''dastar'', is mandatory for all Khalsa Sikhs to wear. The ''pheta'' is worn in Maharashtra and also has regional variants like the Puneri and Kolhapuri pheta. In Mysore and Kodagu the turban is known as the ''Mysore peta''. The Rajastani turban is commonly called the ''pagari''. It varies according to the wearer's caste, class, religion and region.

The Indian turban has practical functions: it provides protection from the elements, and can be used as a pillow, blanket or towel. When unravelled it can serve as a rope, for example being tied to a bucket to draw water from a well.

Western countries

Turbans have been worn by men and women since the 17th century, without ever becoming very common. Poet Alexander Pope is sometimes depicted wearing a turban.

Now that hats are infrequently worn, turbans too are relatively uncommon. They are worn primarily by women of West Indian descent, Karinas. Some women wear them to make a statement of individuality, such as the British social entrepreneur Camila Batmanghelidjh, who usually wears a colourful matching turban and robe.

Ethiopian Orthodox Christians usually wear short white turbans made of thin cotton, as do the Ethiopian Muslims. Although the turban is mentioned in several translations of the Bible, such as in , Christians in general do not see wearing turbans as part of their religious practice.

Muslim majority countries

The men of many Islamic cultures have worn or wear a headdress of some sort that may be considered a turban. Islam considers the turban as being a Sunnah Mu'akkadah (Confirmed Tradition) . Head wraps that men wear are called several names and worn in different ways dependent on region and culture. Examples include ''Amamah'' () in Arabic, ''dastār'' () in Persian.

Many types of head wrap are worn by Islamic scholars in many Muslim countries. Islamic scholars meaning specifically Muslim scholars who study the religion of Islam, most likely being Sheikhs or Imams.

In Shi'a Islam, many people believe that wearing a black head wrap, around a small white cap is a claim to status as a descendant of Muhammad. Wearing a black turban symbolizes a well educated person in the Shi'a school of thought.

Green turban is a distinctive feature of a Hajji.

In Sudan, large white headdresses are worn; they generally are meant to connote high social status.

In most of the Arabian peninsula countries, they wear a form of turban that is plain or checkered scarf (called ''keffiyeh'', ''ghutrah'' or ''shumagh''), though the Arabic Amamah tradition is still strong in Oman(see Sultan Qaboos of Oman), Egypt, Sudan as well as some parts of the Arabian peninsula.

Rastafari

Members of the Bobo Shanti mansion of the Rastafari movement have been wearing turbans over their dreadlocks along with robes since their founding in the 1950s, which make them highly distinctive in appearance in Jamaica and elsewhere.

See also

Pagri

Hat

Scarf

Millinery

References

External links

Tutorial on how to make a Turban (Pagri)

Information on why Sikhs wear Turbans

What is the purpose of wearing a Turban in Sikh Religion

Understanding Turbans

Category:Headgear Category:Arabic clothing Category:Sikh religious clothing Category:Middle Eastern clothing Category:Persian loanwords Category:Persian clothing Category:Islamic dress (male) Category:Ottoman clothing Category:History of Asian clothing

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Abdul Alhazred is a fictional character created by American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. He is the so-called "Mad Arab" credited with authoring the imaginary book ''Kitab al-Azif'' (the ''Necronomicon''), and as such an integral part of Cthulhu Mythos lore.

Name

The name ''Abdul Alhazred'' is a pseudonym that Lovecraft created in his youth, which he took on after reading ''1001 Arabian Nights'' at the age of about five years. The name was invented either by Lovecraft, or by Albert Baker, the Phillips' family lawyer. ''Abdul'' is a common Arabic name component (but never a name by itself; additionally the ending -ul and the beginning Al- are redundant), but ''Alhazred'' may allude to ''Hazard'', a pun on the book's destructive and dangerous nature, or a reference to Lovecraft's ancestors by that name. It might also have been a pun on "all-has-read", since Lovecraft was an avid reader in youth,

Another possibility, raised in an essay by the Swedish fantasy writer and editor, Rickard Berghorn, is that the name ''Alhazred'' was influenced by references to two historical authors whose names were Latinized as ''Alhazen'': Alhazen ben Josef, who translated Ptolemy into Arabic; and Abu 'Ali al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham, who wrote about optics, mathematics and physics. Ibn al-Haytham is said to have pretended to be mad to escape the wrath of a ruler.

''Abdul Alhazred'' is not a real Arabic name, and seems to contain the Arabic definite article morpheme ''al-'' twice in a row (anomalous in terms of Arabic grammar). The more proper Arabic form might be ''Abd-al-Hazred'' or ''Abdul Hazred''. In Arabic translations, his name has appeared as ''Abdullah '' (عبدالله الحظرد): Arabic ''''حظر = "he fenced in", "he prohibited". Hazred could come from the Persian or Arabic word "Hazrat" meaning Great Lord with a twist that makes it sound like "red" and "hazard" both indicative of danger. However Abdul is a common Arabic prefix meaning "Servant of the" and "Al" is Arabic for "the", and if "hazra" means "he prohibited", "he fenced in" or "Great Lord", then the name would mean "Servant of the Prohibited", "Servant of the Fenced in", or "Servant of the Great Lord" which would make sense considering his role, even if it is not a proper Arabic name.

Similarly, an article (written from an in-universe perspective) in the ''Call of Cthulhu'' roleplaying game speculates that it may be a corruption of ''Abd Al-Azrad'', which it claims translates to ''The Worshipper of the Great Devourer''.

The phrase "mad Arab", sometimes with both words capitalized in Lovecraft's stories, is used so commonly before Alhazred's name that it almost constitutes a title. A reference to the "Mad Arab" in Cthulhu Mythos fiction is invariably a synonym for Abdul Alhazred. However due to political correctness later writers sometimes preface Alhazred with words such as "monk" (such as in the Chick parody tract "Who will be Eaten First?" by Howard Hallis) or "scholar" replacing Arab to avoid any possible racist overtones.

Biography

H. P. Lovecraft

According to Lovecraft's "History of the Necronomicon" (written 1927, first published 1938), Alhazred was:

:a mad poet of Sanaá, in Yemen, who is said to have flourished during the period of the Ommiade caliphs, circa 700 A.D. He visited the ruins of Babylon and the subterranean secret of Memphis and spent ten years alone in the great southern desert of Arabia—the Roba El Khaliyeh or "Empty Space" of the ancients—and "Dahna" or "Crimson" desert of the modern Arabs, which is held to be inhabited by protective evil spirits and monsters of death. Of this desert many strange and unbelievable marvels are told by those who pretend to have penetrated it. In his last years Alhazred dwelt in Damascus.

In 730, while still living in Damascus, Alhazred supposedly wrote a book of ultimate evil in Arabic, ''al-Azif'', which would later become known as the ''Necronomicon''. Those who have dealings with this book usually come to an unpleasant end, and Alhazred was no exception. Again according to Lovecraft's "History":

:Of his final death or disappearance (738 A.D.) many terrible and conflicting things are told. He is said by Ebn Khallikan (12th cent. biographer) to have been seized by an invisible monster in broad daylight and devoured horribly before a large number of fright-frozen witnesses. Of his madness many things are told. He claimed to have seen the fabulous Irem, or City of Pillars, and to have found beneath the ruins of a certain nameless desert town the shocking annals and secrets of a race older than mankind. He was only an indifferent Moslem, worshipping unknown entities whom he called Yog-Sothoth and Cthulhu.

August Derleth

August Derleth later made alterations to the biography of Alhazred, such as redating his death to 731. Derleth also changed Alhazred's final fate, as described in his short story "The Keeper of the Key", first published in May 1951. In the story, Professor Laban Shrewsbury (a recurring Derleth character) and his assistant at the time, Nayland Colum, discover Alhazred's burial site.

While the two are heading a caravan from Salalah, Oman, they cross the border into Yemen and find the unexplored desert area that the ''Necronomicon'' calls "Roba el Ehaliyeh" or "Roba el Khaliyeh" — presumably a reference to the Empty Quarter or "Rub al Khali".

At the center of the area they discover the Nameless City (the setting of the Lovecraft story of the same name) and in Derleth's text the domain of the Great Old One Hastur. Shrewsbury, an old agent of Hastur and the devoted enemy of Hastur's half-brother, Cthulhu, crosses its gates in search of Alhazred's burial site.

He indeed finds Alhazred's burial chamber and learns of his fate. Alhazred had been kidnapped in Damascus and brought to the Nameless City, where he had earlier studied and learned some of the ''Necronomicon''s lore. As punishment for betraying their secrets, Alhazred was tortured. Then they blinded him, severed his tongue and executed him.

Although the entrance to the chamber warns against disturbing him, Shrewsbury opens Alhazred's sarcophagus anyway, finding that only rags, bones, and dust remain of Alhazred. However, the sarcophagus also contains Alhazred's personal, incomplete copy of the ''Necronomicon'', written in the Arabic alphabet. Shrewsbury then uses necromancy to recall Alhazred's spirit and orders it to draw a map of the world as he knew it. After obtaining the map, which reveals the location of R'lyeh and other secret places, Shrewsbury finally lets Alhazred return to his eternal rest.

In non-Mythos fiction

Like his creation the ''Necronomicon'', Alhazred is often referenced in works that are not generally considered part of the Cthulhu Mythos, either as a subtle nod to Lovecraft or to create a connection to his world. In ''King's Quest VI'', a character named after Alhazred appears as an evil vizier.

In the yet-to-be released Diablo III, a travelling scholar named "Abd al-Hazir" functions as the fictional narrator for many of the game's features. Given the similarities in the two characters names, professions, written works and generally dark subject matter, it is likely that Lovecraft's Alhazred provided the main inspiration for al-Hazir.

The Mercyful Fate albums ''Time'' and ''Into the Unknown'' reference Alhazred.

The MMORPG Wizard101 features a Krok called Alhazred who teaches Balance magic.

In the soundtrack of the movie 'Sheitan', the track 'Batards de barbares' is from an imaginary hardcore rap band composed of Dimitriu, the 'Child of the East' and Abdul Alhazred, 'the Mad Arab' . This one is played by Hi-Tekk from 'La Caution'.

References

Notes

See also

Alchemy and chemistry in Islam

Islamic astrology

Abdul Alhazred (comics)

Alhazred (novel)

Category:Fictional alchemists Category:Fictional writers Category:Mortals in the Cthulhu Mythos Category:Fictional Arab people

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